adjective
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having or indicating wealth
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abundant or plentiful
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of opulent
1595–1605; < Latin opulentus wealthy, equivalent to op- (stem of ops power, wealth) + -ulentus -ulent
Explanation
Opulent is a word that you will hear a lot around rich people looking to show off. "Remember the opulent buffet at Carrie’s sweet sixteen? Sixteen chocolate cakes iced in gold leaf!" If you want to remember that opulent is a word describing lavish displays of wealth, you can think of the word opal to help you remember it — opal being a rare gem. And if you are lucky enough to be able to afford opulence yourself, don’t describe it that way. The word contains connotations of pretentious. And gold leaf cake aside, who wants that?
Vocabulary lists containing opulent
100 Top "SAT" Words
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Grade 10, List 6
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Bakkers had a famously opulent lifestyle, owning a private jet, multiple homes, luxury cars, jewellery and even an air-conditioned dog house.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
For “Chronovisor,” the directors use a variety of perfectly chosen venues, among them such opulent temples of study as the Yale Club Library in New York and the George Peabody Library in Baltimore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
After years of disrepair, the once opulent Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino came tumbling down to cheers from onlookers who had all paid $10 to watch the demolition from their cars.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
Actress Meg Ryan will have far fewer sleepless nights after securing a buyer for her opulent Hamptons estate—just a few weeks after she listed the property for $15.25 million.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
He heard the chopper coming up from the south, and within a few minutes Mel Willard had set the small bubble copter down in the alfalfa field directly behind Bud Gleason’s opulent adobe home.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
